The plan is to strip all the fixed gear parts off and sell them, which will give me enough money(fingers crossed) to buy a decent road groupset so I can return the frame to its former glory.

Few Q's for people more in the know then me...- What sort of groupset would have been common on such a bike? Shimano? Campy? Suntour? or was it personal preference?- Can anybody give me an estimation of what zeus pista gear is worth? specifically cranks/chainring/hubs/seatpost- Any idea on what steel its built with? It has a reynolds 531 sticker on the bottom of the ST but it only says fork blades, seatpost sise is 26.8, i thought 531 was 27.2??

Also I'm not a big fan of the christmas coulourway so a respray might be on the cards, is cyclomondo best for decals? ive tried contacting him a few times but have had no luck(via his ebay store) is there an alternate contact?

ben_is_fixed wrote:- Any idea on what steel its built with? It has a reynolds 531 sticker on the bottom of the ST but it only says fork blades, seatpost sise is 26.8, i thought 531 was 27.2??

That's the wrong decal in the wrong spot.Maybe it's a respray?Is it pantographed on the seat stays and fork crown like a Ken should be?

No panto's, unsure of the paint history.Im pretty certain it is a Ken, not all had the panto's.The guy I got it off said it was built by him before he was trading under his own name, so possible built whilst under legaro?

ben_is_fixed wrote:- Any idea on what steel its built with? It has a reynolds 531 sticker on the bottom of the ST but it only says fork blades, seatpost sise is 26.8, i thought 531 was 27.2??

That's the wrong decal in the wrong spot.Maybe it's a respray?Is it pantographed on the seat stays and fork crown like a Ken should be?

No panto's, unsure of the paint history.Im pretty certain it is a Ken, not all had the panto's.The guy I got it off said it was built by him before he was trading under his own name, so possible built whilst under legaro?

I've had three Ken's and only one of em was Pantographed (and it was a beautiful frame) - My favourite but too big

The other 2 I have had no doubt were Kenevans frames and I have no reason to believe the guys I bought em off were pulling my leg in any way. Both were custom built and one owner frames. I still keep in touch with them from time to time.

I'm by no means an expert but going from past experience I have seen em without pantographs.

jacksparrow wrote:I've had three Ken's and only one of em was Pantographed (and it was a beautiful frame) - My favourite but too big

The other 2 I have had no doubt were Kenevans frames and I have no reason to believe the guys I bought em off were pulling my leg in any way. Both were custom built and one owner frames. I still keep in touch with them from time to time.

I'm by no means an expert but going from past experience I have seen em without pantographs.

I was about to say, that paint job looks very nice. I am quite new to the restoring thing, so this may be a silly question, but is that a powder coat or a spray can job? Trying to get an idea of what I can expect when I get around to painting mine.

I'm keen to do a few free jobs to get some feedback, have anything in the shed in need of a fresh coat?

Very cool of you to offer but I'd rather pay to at least cover your costs and time. There's nothing that I'm thinking of painting short term but there will be in a month or so. Freebie's and practice jobs won't really give you an indication of whether it's worth making a business of it. Charge me $300 and I'll expect world class paint - then you can work out how much time and skill and materials it takes to achieve that level and whether you can do it day in - day out, like it and make some $'s.

Paint really is an art form. Jim Bundy grits his teeth a little when telling of how he worked at Smith Sons & Ree's where the painters earned around 20% more than the framebuilders.

It's good for you to work out what products work for you, get a system and good workflow going and work to get that last 5% in terms of finish and accuracy. Bikes are also a specialty - thin tubes always round and lots of knooks and crannies. Not a lot of paint used but lots of potential flaws if not done right. It's not easy and takes a lot pf patience - prep and masking is not my forte. I'd rather pay someone.

A lot of peep's want high end paintjobs and don't wish to wait 3 months (or longer). If someone can fill that niche then they're onto a good little earner. Then again like anything in the bike industry - it's tough to make a buck. It's that last 5% difference between good and brilliant. How to balance turnaround with quality is the deal breaker.

Cranky Jim wrote: God did not invent gears. Men invented gears ... because we are not gods.

One of my favourite painters is Keith Anderson in the US. Purely because he does it all and isn't limited by one or two styles. He's also a framebuilder but most of his business is painting for other builders and restoration pain. He's a fun guy too

spirito wrote:Very cool of you to offer but I'd rather pay to at least cover your costs and time. There's nothing that I'm thinking of painting short term but there will be in a month or so. Freebie's and practice jobs won't really give you an indication of whether it's worth making a business of it. Charge me $300 and I'll expect world class paint - then you can work out how much time and skill and materials it takes to achieve that level and whether you can do it day in - day out, like it and make some $'s.

Im hearing you, putting a dollar value on materials is ok but pricing time is another story. Ive been stung by that a few times with my design work. Doing this kind of work day in day out excites me, which probably sounds strange to most people. Obviously there'd be times when im cursing it but thats like anything really

spirito wrote:It's good for you to work out what products work for you, get a system and good workflow going and work to get that last 5% in terms of finish and accuracy. Bikes are also a specialty - thin tubes always round and lots of knooks and crannies. Not a lot of paint used but lots of potential flaws if not done right. It's not easy and takes a lot pf patience - prep and masking is not my forte. I'd rather pay someone.

I reckon workflow has to be one of the strong points. With all the different stages you can be prepping a bunch of frames while another lot are curing etc. Once thats dialed in there's potential to really pump them out.

And to quote my old man... "these F@*#ing things are so F@*#ing fiddly!" lol

spirito wrote:A lot of peep's want high end paintjobs and don't wish to wait 3 months (or longer). If someone can fill that niche then they're onto a good little earner. Then again like anything in the bike industry - it's tough to make a buck. It's that last 5% difference between good and brilliant. How to balance turnaround with quality is the deal breaker.

Yea the biggest thing I hear people complain about is the wait. I imagine framebuilders would want their frames done fairly fast so they can get them to the customer and finalise the payment?

Having 1 or 2 frame builders on board would be cool. I know of one in the gong that is sending frames to star enamelers - that must be a pain

ben_is_fixed wrote:Yea the biggest thing I hear people complain about is the wait.

otoh ... the longer a frame cures and harden's the better. I know of some guys who'll let a frame sit for 8 weeks minimum just so that it's less likely to chip and crack when the customers have it. There's sense in that too ... everything's a compromise

Do your sums: being a good painter is one thing, being a good businessman is different to the first task.

Cranky Jim wrote: God did not invent gears. Men invented gears ... because we are not gods.

ben_is_fixed wrote:Yea the biggest thing I hear people complain about is the wait.

otoh ... the longer a frame cures and harden's the better. I know of some guys who'll let a frame sit for 8 weeks minimum just so that it's less likely to chip and crack when the customers have it. There's sense in that too ... everything's a compromise

Do your sums: being a good painter is one thing, being a good businessman is different to the first task.

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